Five Things I Like About Samsung Galaxy A20 and Two That Not So Much

So I have been using the new Samsung Galaxy A20 smartphone for two weeks now as my main daily driver. In case you missed it, I have already posted my unboxing and initial unboxing of the phone and you can check it in the link below if you wish to. But in this post, I would like to share with you my top five likes about this latest lower midrange installment from Samsung under the Galaxy A series for 2019 and two of the things that I like the least.

READ: Samsung Galaxy A20 Unboxing and Initial Impressions with Sample Photos1. DESIGN. One of the first things that immediately caught my attention when taking the Galaxy A20 out of the box was its overall design. Knowing that this device is priced for under Php10K ahead of the time, I was actually expecting it to look a little bit unimpressive, at least, on the outside. But upon unboxing and unwrapping it, I was just happy to see how it looked way nicer in personal. One of its striking aesthetics is how the back cover was made, it's glossy and fashioned to appear like a real glass material. Samsung is calling it "glasstic", yes glass-looking plastic material. Its looks and how it feels in the hand, it's really delivering its intention.

The edges of this device, both on the back and on the front are curved. And that adds more premium look and feel to it. But the curve on the back is way more exaggerated compared to the front and its a good thing though as it makes the device feel way thinner than expected especially knowing that it packs a huge 4000mAh battery.

The unit that I got is in black including the accessories it came with in the box. And since I like it black for gadgets more than any other colors, that's an additional point for me to like this device even more.

2. BATTERY & FAST CHARGE. Speaking of the battery, this one deserves to be noticed among its competition most especially in this price segment. That big of a battery, based on my personal experience, lasts really long, something that most of its users will be happy about. How long, you may ask. Well it depends actually on how demanding I am with my phone, but I would say I am an average user in terms of using my phone most of the time since I have a 9-5 work, so normally it would last me about two days before needing to charge the phone again.

Now as for the charging time, it is indeed great to know that for its Php9,990 price tag, Samsung decided to include a 15W fast charging feature with it. I think that is great and it makes one of the phone's strongest features among its competitors in this price category. At one point, I drained the battery life down to zero percent and charged it from there without completely using it until it was full. In just almost two hours, it reached 100% battery life. Long lasting battery life and fast charging feature into one budget-friendly and nicely looking device is just a sweet deal.

3. USB TYPE-C. This type of port is something that many fans and tech enthusiasts have been wanting to see on a lower midrange device, and although many well-known smartphone manufacturers have started doing this, it is nice to know that Samsung is following suit this year. The Samsung Galaxy A20, a sub-Php10K smartphone, sporting a USB Type-C is something that fans and enthusiast will be celebrating. I hope that future smartphones from Samsung regardless of its category will all be equipped with this particular feature, and that would be really really nice.

4. ANDROID 9 PIE with ONE UI. To be honest, though I have personally owned and used a couple Samsung smartphones before this blog was established, this is the very first time I am reviewing one. This also makes the first Samsung phone I am reviewing sporting the latest Android 9 Pie and Samsung's latest One UI interface. And to be honest again, I really like it, most especially its built-in Night Mode that can easily be reactivated via the quick access pull down settings. The overall interface is super snappy, and the animation is just so fluid, thanks to its Exynos 7884 processor and 3GB of RAM. I also did not notice too much bloatware, so that is a plus as well.

5. SUPER AMOLED DISPLAY. I will sound like a broken tape here for mentioning this phone's SRP for multiple times now, but still I think it is worth mentioning once more since for that price users will still get to enjoy one of the best smartphone displays on the market right now, a Super AMOLED from its own maker which happens to be Samsung as well. The Galaxy A20 sports 6.4-inch display, needless to say it is a tall display. So incorporate that with the best display quality, the viewing experience is just going to be great. Watching my favorite movies and series from Netflix using this phone is so immersive, I would say. The color pops out and the blacks are deeper than other non-AMOLED display panels. Also, I would like to mention that while there is the selfie camera-housing notch that Samsung calls as Infinity-V display, it does not get in the way most of the time especially when playing games and streaming videos.

The not so much part

Now just like any other phones out there especially the non-flagship ones, the Samsung Galaxy A20 is definitely not a perfect phone. And like any other manufacturers, Samsung had to cut back on a few things to keep its price as low as possible while providing more value at the same time. And for that I would also like to share the top two things I like the least about this budget-centric smartphone.

1. Glasstic Back Panel. Yes I know I mentioned this one above already, but there is one more thing about this one I saved for this part. As expected for a glossy finish like this, even for a real glass material, it is expected to be fingerprint and smudge-hungry of a surface. And I guess that is understandable, it is something that we have to deal with for scenarios like this. But what makes this part of the phone less likeable is that since it is made of plastic, it is easily scratched. Not to mention, it does not come with a free protective clear case in the boxing. So ouch. Right now, though my unit does have those huge, long, and distracting scratches, at least yet, I can already see some minor hairline-like scratches on it.

So as soon as I am able to see available cases for this one, I will definitely get one. However, I am thinking if I am ever going to use it since I am not really a fan of smartphone cases that much. Yes it does add protection to the phone, but we compromise a bit of the experience that Samsung aimed to provide when making this phone. Like I said above, the back panel's design feels really good to the hand, and yet at the same time I want it protected from scratches so it won't eventually look ugly. So I guess I will have to decide on this part.

2. 720P or HD+ Resolution. If there is really one thing to complain about this device, it would be the display resolution. While Super AMOLED provides great display quality and can get very bright for outdoor use, for a 720p panel, images and texts are not the sharpest at times. So if that is something you are willing to to deal with, I recommend this phone. If not, you can always go ahead and check out its much better, more feature packed, and more powerful siblings for additional couple of thousand pesos like the Galaxy A30 or Galaxy A50.